Prodigy

Veronique Dunn has spent her life surviving in the gutters of Londo City, where the Overseers watch every breath and the poor are kept silent by fear. Orphaned, unregistered, and one infraction away from disappearance, Veronique has mastered the art of invisibility. But three days before her eighteenth birthday—when she might finally claim adult status and a sliver of protection—she hears a whisper of hope: an open audition for the Citizen Symphony.

Music is one of the few legal expressions left in the city, and Veronique plays with a raw brilliance that defies class and command. Winning could mean sanctuary. Legitimacy. A future.

But hope is its own kind of threat.

Her mentor is found dead under suspicious circumstances. Overseer patrols close in, naming her a fugitive for reasons they won't explain. And when a brutal attack nearly ends her life, a stranger intervenes: Roman Brandt, a man from the ruling class with secrets as deep as the regime itself.

Roman offers her safety in his luxurious enclave—under one condition: she must not play. The audition, he says, is no opportunity. It's a trap. A way to identify her.

Now, with everything on the line, Veronique must choose: risk everything for a chance to be heard—or silence herself in exchange for survival. But even within Roman's fortress, danger seeps in—and so does desire.